Tuesday 14 May 2024 at 20h CEST
Prof. Dr. Moshe Halbertal (NYU Law School / Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Opening lecture of the newly established Network for European Philosophy and the Jewish Tradition.
Click here to watch this lecture online.
Jewish Thought is shaped and developed within a particular tradition committed to canonical texts informed by a story of a people. Philosophy has the aspiration of being universal, addressing humans above and beyond particular space, time or history. The lecture will explore the questions that are raised by this presumed tension: How is the particular Jewish tradition transformed by its encounter with philosophy or “reason”? In what way can philosophy be informed by the insights developed by a Jewish particular point of view? What is the meaning of a commitment to humanism grounded within a particular narrative and sensibility? Is there any other way to ground such a commitment?
Moshe Halbertal is the Gruss Professor at NYU Law School, the John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the Hebrew University, and a member of Israel’s National Academy for Sciences and the Humanities. Among his books are Idolatry (co-authored with Avishai Margalit) and People of the Book: Canon, Meaning and Authority, both published by Harvard University Press. His books On Sacrifice, Maimonides: Life and Thought, and The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel were published by Princeton University Press. His latest book, Nahmanides: Law and Mysticism was published by Yale University Press in September 2020.
